Of Cowponies and Buffalo
by Hyena king
Summary: When the ponies are caught in the middle of a feud, it's up to them and Thunder and Lightning to make peace. Eventually BraburnxLittleStrongheart. Title sucks, but story's good. promise!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Hyena King here! Here's my third story. This is the episode "Over a barrel" which, of course, includes my favorite pair of pegasi Thunder and Lightning. The difference is that this story will be separated into two parts. The first part is where I follow the episode as canonically as possible. The second I,m keeping secret for now, but I 'll give you this one hint. It will eventually have BraburnxLittleStrongheart A pairing that I think is downplayed a great deal. Will, without further ado, here's chapter 1!**

"And so the little yellow bird said to himself,"Well, my little old tree ain't so little anymore", and so..." At the back of a train heading for Appaloosa, Applejack was reading a bedtime story to an apple tree, which was for some reason in a bed. Beside her stood Lightning Flash, a big smile directed towards the tree as Applejack finished the story. After Applejack concluded the story, Lightning tucked it in, then they stood back and looked upon the tree with big smiles. Between the two of them, the ponies looked like proud parents.**  
**

"It seems only yesterday that he was a little sapling." Lightning said, sniffling a little as he said it. " and now he's all grown up." Applejack responded, being on the verge of tears herself. "We must really treasure these times," Lightning continued, "Argh, I wish I knew how to scrapbook!"

"Applejack! Lightning!"

Both ponies were startled out of their moment by the diva of fashion herself, Rarity. "Were you reading a bedtime story to an apple tree?" she demanded, a little cranky about something. The two ponies stammered for a second before Applejack answered. "Well, being replanted in a whole new place is very upsetting for an apple tree." she explained. "And Bloomburg here is one of our favorites." Lightning finished. Lightning sighed. "I remember the day we first planted him."

"Yeah," Applejack said, sighing herself. "I planted him right on the fringe of the apple orchard."

"And I dug the hole that he went in"

Rarity just stared at them for a moment. Then, "No fair, you guys! You have a luxurious, privat sleeper for a _tree_, while I,m crowded and cramped in the same car with all the other ponies." She went straight up to the other ponies faces. "How am I going to get my beauty sleep?" She asked, giving them an irritated look.

"Get over it." Lightning said simply. "Besides, Bloomburg's the whole reason were making this trip." Applejack added. "He needs his rest so we can give him as a gift for my relatives in Appaloosa." "I was there for his planting and I,m going to make darn sure that he makes it OK so I can be there for his replanting." Lightning said, holding his chin up high.

"H mph, you guys talk about it like it's your baby or something" Rarity pointed out. The two ponies gasped at this. "Who're you calling a baby!?" they both said at the same time. "Bloomburg's no baby!" Applejack said defensively. Both she and Lightning went to Bloomburg and began to cuddle it. "Don't let Rarity make you all saddy waddy." Applejack cooed. "Bloomburg's a big strong apple tree."

"Yes you are, yes you are," Lightning continued, "We love you. We're proud of you." The rest degenerated to baby talk as the two continued there affections on the tree. Rarity just stared for a moment, then became angry. "It's little Rarity that's all saddy waddy." with that, she gave a cry of frustration and left, leaving the two ponies with their "baby".

**And there you go. So, how,m I doing so far? Before you say anything, I,m not going for ApplejackxLightning, I just thought this would be funny to see. Besides, I like to keep you guys guessing. R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Hyena king here! This chapter is basically a filler part before we get to the interesting part. I hope you enjoy it. So, without further ado, here's chapter 2!**

That night, the ponies, who had all decided to come to Appaloosa, were talking amongst themselves in the public car. Rarity tossed and turned, trying to sleep amongst the noise. "Try not to be so loud in the morning!" she hissed, covering her head with a pillow. Spike, bunked underneath Rarity, poked his head out of his blanket in anger.

"Will you guys keep it down? I've been up early in the morning fire roasting those snacks you're eating and I,m pooped!" Rainbow Dash smiled down at the dragon from her bunk. "Speaking of, some of these kernels didn't get popped." she indicated a box of popcorn that was seated beside her. Spike sighed. "OK" he said with a smile.

He then proceeded to light Rainbow's box on fire, burning all the popcorn and popping one that hit her in the eye. "Goodnight!" Spike said in anger, then retreated back under his blanket. "Uh, maybe we should all get some shut-eye." Twilight said, "We have a big day ahead of us." With that, Twilight shut of the light, bathing the entire car in darkness as the mares gave groans of disappointment. **  
**

From his bunk, Lightning scowled. He didn't know what Rarity and Spike were complaining about. At least they got their own bunks. Speaking of which... Lightning turned to Thunder, who was laying next to him, and shoved him towards the edge of the bed. "Move over there!" Lightning whispered. "I was here first." Thunder replied and shoved Lightning towards the window. "So I was here second. Who cares! move!"

The two began to have a shoving match until they had somewhat of a semblance of equilibrium. Then they laid in silence for a few seconds before Thunder spoke up.

"You know, this wouldn't be an issue if we hadn't bought the tree-"

"Bloomburg." Lightning corrected.

"Fine, Bloomburg." Thunder conceded. "If he hadn't bought Bloomburg a private car, we would have been able to afford nine more beds."

"And get him even more upset then he is already. It's worth not having my own bed that he's OK."

Thunder gave him a puzzled look. "OK, I understand why Applejack is devoted to this, but why you? This is the last thing I expected."

Lightning gave a sigh. "Remember when you were sick, so I had to help AJ with the farm?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what I helped her do was plant Bloomberg. At first, I didn't want anything to do with him after he was planted, but I visited Sweet Apple Acres again and saw him. The very thing I had helped make was growing more each and every day and I was a part of it. I visited more and more, whenever I could, and saw him become the tree he is today. I was there for him in the beginning and now I'll be there for him in the end."

There was silence for a moment. Then, Thunder said, "Of all the things you could've been attached to, it had to be an apple tree."

"Yep."

"Will you all be quiet, now!" came an enraged voice. The brothers and the mares, who had been having their own conversation by candle light, turned to Rarity's bunk. In the dim light, she looked scary and ghoulish. The mares cried out and snuffed out the candle, while the brothers yelped, jumped up and hit the ceiling, knocking themselves out.

**There you go. I know this was a little short, but I,m pressed for time at the moment. I hope this gave you more insight to Lightning's role in caring for Bloomburg. R&R please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi! Hyena King here! This chapter shows the events of the Buffalo's attack on the train and Thunder and Lightning's role in it. So, without further ado, here's chapter 3!  
**

The next morning, The ponies were all awoken by sudden tremors that struck the train. When they looked outside to investigate, They were shocked by what they saw.

"A buffalo stampede!" Twilight cried. The rest of the ponies all exclaimed in amazement at the sight. All except Thunder and Lightning. "They're awfully close to the train, don't you think?" Thunder asked to nopony in particular. "And getting closer." Twilight responded with a worried look on her face.

As they spoke, the buffalo did indeed get closer. Then they proceeded to ram the train, causing the whole thing to shake violently. The ponies were all knocked off their hooves and were thrown about the car, screaming as they did. Thunder regained his footing somewhat and went to the door of the car. "Come on Lightning!" he cried opening the door to the outside.

"Right behind you!" Lightning replied. He flew up a little and hovered to were Thunder was. "Stay here girls!, We'll handle this!" Thunder yelled, hoping to be heard above the crashing. "Guys, wait!" Twilight cried, but it was no use. The brothers were already out the door.

Once outside, the pegasi flew towards the leader of the buffalo. "Now look here sir!" Thunder began, "I don't know what your problem is, but-" The buffalo didn't give him a chance to finish, ramming him and sending him sprawling. "Hey, you can't-" Lightning was cut off as the buffalo rammed him too. "That's it!" Lightning said. He flew forward and rammed the buffalo with surprising strength, knocking it off it's hooves. The other buffalo didn't take to kindly to that, however, and began to attack Lightning. Thunder recovered and charged to Lightning's side, become involved in the brawl between them.

As the mares watched the fight outside the train, Pinkie suddenly pointed outside the window on the opposite side of the car. "Oh look! now there doing tricks!" she said, not really comprehending the gravity of the situation. Outside, the buffalo had made a pyramid, at the top of which sat a buffalo calf.

"Oh, now do a back-flip!" Pinkie said. Instead, the calf jumped onto the roof of their car. "Or just jump." said a disappointed Pinkie, who was still not getting it. Noise from the roof came down as the calf walked across it. "Something tells me this isn't a circus act." Rainbow said, then flew outside to confront the calf.

Rainbow appeared on the roof right in front of the startled calf. "Hey there, were are you headed in such a hurry?" She asked. Instead of answering, the calf ran right past Rainbow. The pegasus follwed beside the calf, actually impressed. "You move pretty quick for someone so...bulky. no offense." The calf ignored her, keeping her eye on the prize, which was apparently the last car on the train.

"Hey!" Rainbow cried, angered at being ignored. She moved in front of the calf again. "I,m talking to you-" The calf jumped over her, landing behind her and kept going. Rainbow, now infuriated, gave chase, heading towards the end of the car. "Got you now-" At the end of the train, The calf jumped down onto the train connection. Rainbow overshot it and rammed into a sign post. The calf gave a triumphant look, then disconnected the car from the rest of the train. Then she signaled the other buffalo.

Meanwhile, The fight between the brothers and the buffalo continued. Well, it wasn't so much as a fight as a ramming contest. Lightning got the worst of the buffalo's attacks, being sent sprawling every time he was tackled, but he recovered quickly and returned to the fight, knocking the buffalo over and tripping them up. Thunder was a tough cookie himself, fighting almost toe to toe with the great beasts. Then the whistle sounded and the buffalo retreated.

"Yeah, that's right, you better run!" Lightning cried, cocky at their supposed victory. The mares went to the back of the car and looked outside, watching as the buffalo made off with the last car. "They got Bloomburg!" Applejack cried. "And Spike!" Twilight said as she saw the dragon screaming for help from the buffalo-napped car.

Lightning, having heard Applejack's cry, suddenly raced after the car, only to be stopped by Thunder.

"We have to make sure the the girls are all right!" Thunder said, dragging Lightning back towards the train. "No, Bloomburg!" Lightning cried, struggling with all his might to get free from his brother. "We'll deal with it later!" Thunder promised as he continued to drag Lightning back towards the car.

**There you go. Well, there's not much to say except that I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. R&R please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! Hyena King here! This chapter shows how sides are soon taken among the mane six and Thunder and Lightning. So, without further ado, here's chapter 4!  
**

As the train pulled into Appaloosa, Lightning thought about what happened earlier. He was extremely worried when Bloomburg was taken, he had become frantic when he heard that Rainbow was AWOL as well. As he was on the verge of a panic attack, Thunder had come up with the idea. "I'll go look for Rainbow, Spike," he sighed before continuing. "And Bloomburg. you stay here with the mares and watch after them."

"Why can't I go look and you stay here?" Lightning had asked incensed. "Because I have an idea where they went." Thunder didn't mention the fact that Lightning was prone to attack first, ask questions later. He wasn't going to risk a fight if he could help it. Lightning had agreed after a while and Thunder went out into the desert. Even now, Lightning was questioning the idea.

The ponies all frantically rushed out as the train stopped. Any progress to be made, however, was stopped dead by a smiling yellow stallion. "Hey there, welcome to Appaloosa!" he said, quite enthusiastic about it. "Braburn listen-" Applejack began, but was interrupted by the stallion.

"Now cousin Applejack, mind your manners," Braburn chided,"you havn't even introduced me to your com padres! Shame on you." "Braburn listen, somethings terrible's happened-" "Terrible s right," Braburn once again interrupted. "Your train's seven minutes late! That's seven minutes less for you to delight in the plesures and wonders of Appaloosa!"

For the next few minutes, Braburn, took all the ponies on a pointless tour of the town, including it's horse-drawn carriages, it's watering hole, which served salt for some reason, it's sheriff Silver Star, and it's wild west dances. (And it's mild west dances.)

"And here's the most beautiful sight in all of Appaloosa!" Braburn said, ending the tour on the cliff over-looking an apple orchard. "Our apple orchard." "He must really like the word Appaloosa." Lightning said, starting to lose his patience, which was hardly anything new. He wasn't the only one however.

"Braburn." Applejack said.

"First harvest should be any day now."

"Braburn."

"Good thing too."

"Braburn."

"Cause we need that grub to live on."

"Braburn!"

"Yes cous'?."

Applejack sighed. "Look you have a very nice town and all, but we have a huge problem. Some of our friends are missing!"

"A stampede of buffalo!" Fluttershy said.

"They took Spike!" Rarity added.

"Rainbow Dash went after them!" Twilight chimed in.

"And we can't find Pinkie anywhere." Fluttershy finished.

"And Thunder went to get them back." Lightning said. "Wait, where is Pinkie?" he asked afterward, having completely forgotten the party pony.

"And we had an apple tree we were going to give you, but they took that too."

"Did you say "buffalo" " Braburn asked after this was all said. He sighed and went over to look over the orchard. "Them buffalo, they want us settler ponies to take all these trees of this land. They sure as hay don't want any new ones added in."

"But why?" Fluttershy asked. "Beats me," Braburn responded,"We put a lot of work into this orchard, to feed our town, our families, our foals! And now they say all these trees have to go? it ain't fair." The mares looked at him with questioning looks, while Lightning held a look of absolute anger.

Meanwhile, Thunder was starting to regret not bringing any water with him. The hot sun beat down on him. The exhausted pegasus had stopped flying a long time ago. He was panting heavily and sweating profusely. But he wasn't about to turn tail now. "Where are you guys?" He asked, looking over the horizon. He then turned at the sound of a help, seeing Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. He quickly flew over there to meet them.

"Hey Thunder!" Pinkie said rather loudly, "What'cha do-" "Pinkie, Thunder! you have to get out of here now!" "We do?" Pinkie asked, clearly not getting it. "You're going to blow my cover!" "we are?"

"Hey, I came all this way to find you, there's no way I,m leaving now!" Thunder said a little peeved.

"I,m trying to save Spike!" Rainbow protested angrily. "Oh my gosh, so am I!" Pinkie cried. "And so am I." Thunder said a little quieter. "But you don't get it!" Rainbow whispered, starting to lose her patience. "The more of us there are, the more chances there are of us being-"

The trio looked around to see that they were surrounded by buffalo.

"Caught." Rainbow finished.

**And there you go. Sorry to cut this short, but I hope you enjoyed this story nevertheless. R&R please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! Hyena king here! This chapter is going to show how Thunder is going to get won over by the buffalo, as well as Rainbow and Pinkie. Well, without further ado, here's chapter 5!  
**

"Run, Pinkie! I'll hold them off, save yourself!" Rainbow said, putting herself in front of Pinkie. Thunder stepped in front of Rainbow and Pinkie. "No, you girls save yourselves and I'll hold them off!" "No, I'll hold them off!" Rainbow put herself in front of the other ponies. "Are we really going to argue about this?" Thunder put himself in front of the mares.

The buffalo snorted and charged, clearly intent on stomping the ponies to jelly. "Stop!" A sudden voice cried out, stopping the buffalo in their tracks. They cleared a path and from the dust they had kicked up came Spike.

"Dash, Pinkie, Thunder, whats up?" He turned to the buffalo. "Yeah, no worries. I know those guys. they're cool." "If you say so Spike." The lead buffalo said, then hoofed-pumped Spike. "Catch you later bro." With that, the buffalo charged away, leaving three ponies who exchanged glances.

That night, the ponies were gathered around a campfire in the buffalo camp, listening to Spike tell his story. "Yeah seems they took me by mistake and they feel awful about it too, poor guys." He snapped his fingers, causing two buffalo to give three bowls of...mosh, to the ponies. "Fortunately, they totally respect dragons, so they treat me like an honored guest. They still don't like ponies much though, but you're with me, so that's OK."

Rainbow sniffed her bowl, then got to her hooves. "Well, I still don't trust them. I say we turn tail and bail before.." She was interrupted By Pinkie's obnoxious eating. "Before we finish eating? Are you loco in the coco?" She turned to Thunder. "Are you gonna eat that?" Thunder, who'd been looking at his mosh in disgust, pushed his bowl over to Pinkie. "Knock yourself out." Thunder said, feeling slightly sick.

A few minutes later, they were joined by a buffalo calf, a very familiar buffalo calf. "Can I have more of that mushy stuff? Whatever it was." Pinkie asked, her face covered in the stuff. "Certainly." the calf responded. She then turned her attention to Spike. "And Spike, you like gemstones, yes?" She set down the bowl of said stones she was carrying at Spikes feet, where the dragon dug right in.

Thunder suddenly knew who the calf was. "Hey, you're that calf from the train!" "Yeah," Spike responded. "This is Little Strongheart. Spike turned towards Strongheart. "These are my friends Pinkie Pie, Thunder Boom, and Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow, who was staring off into the distance, turned and snorted at Strongheart before turning back. She suddenly jumped and looked the calf straight in the eyes. "You!" she said as she recognized Strongheart. "You!" Strongheart said back, recognizing Rainbow as well.

"That's it, We're out of here!" With that, Rainbow began to walk away, dragging Pinkie with her. Thunder watched them for a second, then got up to follow them. "Wait!" Strongheart said, stepping in front of the ponies. "Please accept my apologies for what happened on the train, we didn't mean for anyone to be hurt."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah right." she said, turning around. Thunder suddenly grabbed her and faced her towards Strongheart. "I think you should listen to what she has to say." Thunder said, using his best diplomacy voice. Rainbow sighed, but remained were she was. "We were only after the tree." Strongheart continued "What,ve you got against Bloomburg?" Thunder asked with a raised eyebrow. Strongheart stared at him for a few minutes, then continued.

"The settler ponies have overrun the land and have planted an orchard all over it. Because of their thoughtlessness, we can no longer run over our traditional stampeding grounds."

"Huh?" said all the ponies at once. "I think it's time for them to meet chief ThunderHooves." Spike said.

Later, they and all the other buffalo were all seated before a central fire looking at a wise, older buffalo with a war bonnet. "We have a long and winding stampeding trail that we have run upon for many generations." The chief began. "My father has stampeded over these lands, as his father before him, as his father before him..." This went on for several minutes before Strongheart stepped up to the chief. "I think they get the idea chief." she said, getting him back on track. "It is a tradition to run this path every year," The chief continued. "But this year, these settler ponies, these...Appaloosans!" The chief began to snort for a couple of seconds before Strongheart intervened.

"They planted apple trees all over it, without asking our permission." "Well that's not very nice." Pinkie said. "Right Rainbow Dash?" The pegasus in question just turned and sat with a "humph!"

"The ponies refuse to move their trees, so we are stuck here, and it is not fair!" Strongheart finished lowering her head. Thunder who had been listening to all this in silence, suddenly got up and walked up to The chief.

"Chief ThunderHooves." He said. "I swear, on my honor as a hero of Equestria, That We'll do whatever it takes to get your stampeding grounds back!" Rainbow suddenly shot up, to everypony's surprise. "You're darn right we are!" She said. "Come on, we have some apple picking Appaloosans to talk to!"

**There you have it. For simplicity's sake, I,m just going to call Little Strongheart "Strongheart" and the chief "chief". On one last note, doe anybody know what the heck it was that the buffalo were eating? R&R please! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! Hyena King here! This chapter is pretty self-explanatory, so there's no need for an introduction. So, without further ado, here's chapter 6!  
**

At the outskirts of Appaloosa, the ponies who had not been kidnapped readied themselves to go into the desert. Applejack tightened a pack on Rarity, to the unicorn's discomfort. "Gently, please." she said with a pout. "Sorry Rarity," replied Applejack, "But are friends are out there, and we need to be ready for a long hike out in Buffalo territory if we're gonna save them."

Lightning joined the pair, now wearing a ten gallon hat and a cowboy vest. "And we will save them, even if it kills us!" he said, raring for action. "Let's go!" Applejack responded to him, then they and the rest of the ponies (Braburn included.) sallied forth into the desert.

They only made it a couple of feet before skidding to a halt in front of Spike, Pinkie, Rainbow and Thunder. "Hey guys." Pinkie said in her cheery voice. "Pinkie!" Fluttershy cried before tackling her. "We're so glad your safe!" Everypony else went forward to welcome their friends back.

Lightning went to Thunder, laughing out loud. "Thunder! I can't believe it! You actually did...What the hay?" Lightning took a closer look at his brother. Thunder was wearing a headband with an eagle feather on it. Before Lightning could ask what was this about, Twilight spoke up. "How,d you escape the buffalo?"

"We didn't." Pinkie said, then indicated a rock. From behind it came Strongheart, causing the ponies to gasp. "We promised the buffalo a chance to talk" Rainbow explained. "Yeah, about what." Applejack asked suspiciously. As they talked Lightning looked over Thunder again.

"Um...What exactly are you wearing?" Lightning finally asked. "This is the traditional head-wear of the buffalo." Thunder explained. "OK, but _why _are you wearing it?" "Because I have sworn on my honor as a hero of Equestria that I would help them."

Lightning gawked at him for a second. Then, "You're helping these guys? They kidnapped Spike and Bloomburg!"

"They took Spike by mistake and, I,m sorry to break this to you, but Bloomburg's a _tree._

Lightning gasped. "I can't believe my own brother would say such a thing." "Look, the point is," Thunder replied," Is that Bloomburg would have helped in hurting the buffalo. They can't run through their traditional stampeding grounds because of the apple orchard."

Lightning's face flashed in anger. "Well, that's too dang bad! The settler ponies can't feed themselves without the orchard and that's the only fertile land out here so," He gestured towards the rest of the place. "They can stampede somewhere else!"

"They've been here longer then the settler ponies! The apple orchard will be moved!"

"It's gonna stay!"

"Move!"

"Stay!"

"Move!"

"Stay!"

"Move"

"ah, move this!" With that, Lightning mule-kicked his brother into the dirt. Thunder snarled and tackled Lightning. They disappeared into a dust cloud as they wrestled, the sounds of their fighting almost drowning out the rest of the ponies.

"Hey, I,'ve got an idea!" Pinkie said as she jumped into the air, crashing into the dirt. This earned the attention of all the ponies. Even Thunder and Lightning stopped their fighting and looked at her.

Later, The ponies and the buffalo were standing in front of a stage, wondering what was going to happen. As the music started up, Pinkie emerged from a clam onstage and began to sing.

(**One musical number I like, but don't have time to put down on this story later.)**

Everypony was silent as they processed the horrible musical number they just witnessed. The only one who applauded the performance was Spike, who was playing the piano at that time.

"It seems that Sheriff Silverstar and I have come to an agreement." the Chief said after a brief silence. "We have." The sheriff replied. Everypony leaned forward with hopeful faces about what they were about to hear. "That was the worst performance we,ve ever seen." the Chief said finally. Pinkie and Spike became depressed at this.

"The time for action is upon us!" The chief continued. "Our stampede begins at high noon tomorrow. And if the orchard is still there, we'll flatten it! and the whole town!" Everypony gasped at this proclamation. "But chief!" said Strongheart, running up to the chief.

"And we Appaloosans say that you,d better bring your best!" The Sheriff replied, "Cause we'll be ready and waiting!" "But sheriff!" Braburn said. Before either could make their case, however, The buffalo and the cowponies went back to their respective areas to prepare themselves.

Lightning, who had been watching all this, was suddenly grabbed by Thunder. "Look, you want peace as much as I do, right?" Lightning nodded at this. "Then let's call a truce. and follow me. I have an idea."

With that, Thunder took off towards the outskirts of town, Lightning trailing behind.

**There you go. What's Thunder planning, you may ask? Well, you'll have to read on and find out! R&R please!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi! Hyena King here! As I said, there will be two parts to this story, and this is part two. This basically will follow the story again, but these next couple of chapters will have an original plot were Thunder and Lightning try to create peace between the buffalo and the settler ponies. So, without further ado, here's chapter 7!  
**

"We're gonna what!?"

Thunder and Lightning were on a rocky outcropping outside of town. Lightning was sitting on the ground, while Thunder was standing next to a boulder with poorly drawn illustrations. "You heard me perfectly." Thunder said,"Here, let me explain."

He first pointed to an illustration of two angry faced ponies. "For as long as we know, there has been a history of two rival kingdoms going to war with each other. Sometimes, it lasts for centuries. _But_ eventually those two kingdoms want peace with each other, right?"

"Yeah." Lightning said, getting impatient already with this. "And how do those two kingdoms make peace, you may ask?" Thunder continued. "They could make a treaty, but how long would that last? They would need something more binding." He indicted to an illustration with another two ponies, one of them in a poorly drawn dress. "Understand so far?"

"Yeah, your drawing sucks." Lightning said. "Anyway," Thunder said a little peeved. "The two kingdoms came up with a solution. One would send a prince, one would send a princess, and they would marry, thus binding the two kingdoms would be forever bound and united."

"And this has anything to do with Strongheart and Braburn because?" "Because," Thunder pointed to an illustration of a buffalo and pony. "They are our prince and princess, so to speak. They want peace as much as we do, and they will be the focal point of my plan. We'll work hard tonight to make it so the two of them fall in love and thus, will unite the two warring sides and ensure peace for generations to come!" Thunder looked at Lightning, waiting for his reaction.

Lightning got up and stretched, then looked at Thunder seriously. "OK, let me just name four problems with that. way you explained this, it would have to take the consent of both parties to approve this, and we both know that's not going to happen. B. Your plan does not necessarily ensure peace, as there's been a history of arranged marriages backfiring. C. Strongheart and Braburn aren't even of the same _species_, to sa_y _the least of "kingdoms." And D. there's no way of knowing if they even like each other, let alone love each other." Lightning waited for what Thunder had to say to that.

"A. the two sides don't have to know about this until tomorrow. B. arranged marriages have a 90% success rate, so don't worry about that. C. species does not affect love in anyway and D. that's what we're for."

Lightning shook his head. "OK, let's say this could work. How're we going to pull this off?"

"Simple my brother, just listen closely..."

At the buffalo camp, where the residents were preparing themselves for the coming conflict, Thunder was talking to Strongheart. "They want to talk again of peace?" Strongheart said, hope leaking into her voice. "Yep, there going to be on that high ridge, right there." Thunder pointed out said ridge so she could see it.

"Great! I'll go tell chief Thunderhooves-"

Thunder intercepted her before she could do so. "Actually, they just want to talk to you. And it would probably be better that we _don't_ tell the chief about this."

Strongheart stared at him for a second. "OK." she said a little skeptically. "Follow me!" With that, Thunder took of towards the ridge, Strongheart following.

At Appaloosa, Lightning was talking to braburn. "They want a second chance to talk?" braburn said with a smile. "That's right." "Great I'll-" Lightning grabbed him before he could do anything.

"They just want to talk to you, and we're not telling anypony else."

"OK!" Braburn practically yelled as Lightning dragged him towards the ridge.

**There you have it. Yep, Thunder and Lightning are going to play cupid. I know this probably wasn't what you expected when I said this was going to be eventual StrongheartxBraburn, but this is what I came up with. R&R please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi! Hyena king here! This chapter shows what happens on the night before the final battle, in which Thunder and Lightning attempt to get Braeburn and Strongheart together. How will they screw this up? Read on and find it. So, without further ado, here's chapter 8!  
**

"Is this really necessary?"

"Of course it is! You have to look your best if we're going to talk peace, right?"

"I suppose..."

Thunder and Strongheart were heading up a winding trail towards the ridge currently. Thunder was doing his best to groom Strongheart's fur, much to the buffalo's discomfort. He had also thought of working on her hair, but after several failed attempts (Which he explained was also an attempt to win over the pony ambassador.) he gave up on it entirely. There was little else he could do, so Thunder settled on working on Strongheart's fur.

Meanwhile, Lightning and Braeburn were heading up on an opposite path. Lightning had stopped dragging Braeburn, but he was still being rough on the settler pony. "Open up." he said as he pulled out a green squeeze bottle. "What's that for?" Braeburn asked before Lighting forced open his mouth and sprayed the bottle, which turned out to be breath freshener, into his mouth. Unlike his brother, Lightning offered no explanation to his actions, instead he just continued on with his attentions, leaving the poor settler pony confused beyond belief.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Applejack was following them, having seen them leave town and wondering what they were up to. Thunder and Strongheart had a similar tail, in the form of Rainbow. It was night by the time both parties had reached the top of the ridge, giving both The settler pony and buffalo a surprise.

In the middle of the flat land was a wooden table, the best the boys could get under the circumstances. It was decorated with unlit candles and pinkish flowers Lightning had found on a few cacti. "Thunder, what is this?" Strongheart asked, but Thunder grabbed her by the shoulder. "Oh good, our guests are here, let's be seated."

Thunder pulled her forward and seated her down at the right end of the table. Lightning simply picked Braeburn up and sat him at the left end of the table. Then the brothers both seated themselves next to their respective charges. There was awkward silence for a minute, then Thunder suddenly got up.

"Oh my! you must be hungry after your trip. Here, let me get some snacks." With that, Thunder ran off behind a boulder. Lightning got up not a second later. "I'll get some drinks." was all he said before he turned and behind the rock as well. The brothers rejoined each other and looked over the boulder, careful to avoid detection.

There was a brief silence between the "ambassadors." Then, "So, nice weather we're having tonight." Braeburn said awkwardly. "Yes, it is." Strongheart responded just as awkwardly. "Sheesh, it's only been five minutes and already this is going badly." Lightning commented from the pegasi's hiding place. "Just give them a minute, they'll fall in love soon enough." "Well, as good as that sounds, I,m gonna speed the process a little." With that, Lightning grabbed a violin out of nowhere and went back to the table.

Yes, the violin. It was the perfect thing for a romantic setting. Except Lightning couldn't play one to save his life. When he began to play, Braeburn, Strongheart and Thunder covered their ears to block out the horrible sound. It sounded like somepony stepping on a cat.(Actually, it sounded like somepony was stepping on a _lot_ of cats.) Fortunately, Thunder intervened before anymore damage could be done, knocking Lightning back behind the rock.

"Hey, Look at the stars, aren't they pretty!? Let's take a closer look." Thunder pushed the two closer to the ridge, then went behind the rock. Braeburn and Strongheart looked at each other for a minute. "Let me guess, Thunder told you that this was a peace negotiation, right?" Braeburn asked after a brief silence. "Yes," Strongheart replied,"Did Lightning tell you the same?"

"That's the scope of it, yeah." There was another brief silence before Stronheart spoke up. "I think They're trying to set us up, you know as a couple." The two just looked at each other for a moment, then they burst out laughing.

"That explains why Lightning was trying to freshen my breath!"

"It also explains why Thunder was grooming my fur!"

"At least Thunder didn't drag you up here!"

"Lightning did that?"

"Yeah, and he wouldn't explain a thing about what was happening!"

"At least he didn't miss with your fur. I must look ridiculous now!"

"I wouldn't say that, you look great-"

This was followed by another brief silence as Strongheart blushed a little at Braeburn's comment, the settler pony having a blush of his own. After a while, Stronheart broke the silence.

"I have to get going. I'm going to try to convince the chief to reconsider on attacking the town."

"Yeah, I need to do the same with the sheriff."

"Well...goodnight."

"Same to you."

They both got up to leave. As they went back to the paths each of them had taken, they both looked at each other one more time. Then they left, the ridge growing silent once more. Thunder and Lightning left their hiding place and looked on with disappointed looks.

"Well, so much for that." Lightning said with a sigh. "I don't get it. I thought for sure this would work." Thunder replied, shaking his head quizzically. They then felt a presence behind them. They turned to face the angry looks of both Rainbow and Applejack.

"What the hay's going on here!?" The mares asked in unison.

**There you have it. I hope I didn't do to terribly on this chapter. On a different note, I just realized that throughout this entire story, I was spelling Braeburn's name wrong. How embarrassing. R&R please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi! Hyena King here! This chapter is pretty self-explanatory, so I won't take up any time in explaining it. So, without further ado, here's chapter 9!  
**

It was almost time. Noon was only a few minutes away. The buffalo were on the ridge overlooking Appaloosa. The settler ponies had built up their defenses. All attempts at peace had failed. The mane six and Thunder and Lightning were located in the town square, wondering what to do.

"Come on, think, think, think." Rainbow said, bumping herself on the head as she did so. Thunder thought to himself for a moment. "I,m out of ideas." he finally said with a helpless shrug. "Hey, maybe you should hook up the chief with the sheriff." Spike said, laughing at his joke at the brothers expense.

Lightning obviously didn't appreciate it, for he turned on spike angrily. "At least we tried something, you little jerk!" Spike was about to say something else when Twilight intervened. "Now's not the time for this. We-"

The clock tower in town rang, signaling that it was noon. As it chimed, nopony moved, the air tense. Chief Thunderhooves looked ready to attack for a moment, but Strongheart but her hoof on his face and looked at him sadly. The chief sighed and look at the town with a solemn expression. Rainbow gasped as she realized what that meant.

"He's not gonna do it." With that, the ponies all let out sighs of relief. Then Thunder saw Pinkie in the dress she had worn when she had given her performance and knew what she was going to do. "Pinkie, no!" But it was to late.

(**Insert lyrics to a bad song here.)**

That settled it for the chief. "Charge!" Then the buffalo were running full tilt at the town. As they approached the blockade, Thunder and Lightning nodded at each other. Lighting put on a cowboy vest and hat, while Thunder put on war paint and an eagle feather headband, Then headed for each party they represented.

As the buffalo broke through the blockade and headed into town, the settler ponies got into a group. "Ready." The sheriff said as the buffalo got closer, not noticing Lightning in the group. "Fire!" Lightning yelled suddenly. This caused the ponies to fire their ammo of hot apple pies prematurely, most ending up missing their targets.

At the same time, Thunder had infiltrated the charging buffalo. As they drew close, he suddenly pulled a log from nowhere and put it in front of the buffalo, causing many of them to trip in the dirt. The battle went on, The settler ponies throwing apple pies at the buffalo, the buffalo charging and crashing into everything and all the while Thunder and Lightning sabotaged each group, intending to do more damage to themselves rather then each other.

Lightning sabotaged his group by giving them wrong instructions, causing them to fire prematurely, and even giving away their positions by giving a loud "yee-haw!" whenever a buffalo passed by a hiding place. Thunder was more physical in his attempts, tripping the buffalo up, tricking them into running into walls, even so far as striking them on the head with a frying pan whenever their backs where turned.

In the middle of all this, The chief found The sheriff throwing pies from behind a haystack. With a snort, the chief charged him. The sheriff soon ran out of pies and saw the chief coming, to his dismay. As the chief got closer, the sheriff put his hat to his chest in resignation of his fate. Thunder, seeing this, stole an apple pie from one of the settler ponies and threw it with all his might.

The pie hit the chief dead in the face, causing him to crash into the ground, where he lay still. Everypony stopped what they were doing and looked upon this sad sight. Their where tears shed from both sides at this great tragedy. "What,ve I done?" Thunder said, shocked at his rash action.

For a while their was silence. Then, some of the apple pie slid into the chief's mouth. He awoke with a start, licking all the pie of his face with a "Yum!" Everypony sighed with relief (Especially Thunder.) at this sight.

"Hey, I,ve got a much better idea!" the chief said, a gleeful look in his eye.

**There you have it. Sorry to end this chapter on that note, but I hope you enjoyed it nevertheless. R&R please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi! Hyena King here! What can I say? This is going to wrap up the story, which is basically the same way in the episode except with a surprise ending, sort of. So, without further ado, here's chapter 10!  
**

And so, peace was restored. The buffalo let the settler ponies keep their trees in exchange for a share in their apple pies. At the same time, The settler ponies cleared enough of the land for the buffalo to run through on their traditional stampeding grounds. Thunder watched these proceedings alongside Twilight.

"I wonder why they didn't just think of this in the first place?" Thunder said after a bit. "I,m not sure, but I learned something from this," Twilight replied. "I,m going to put it in a letter to Princess Celestia. Want to hear it."

"I would be honored." Thunder said with a smile. Twilight cleared her throat, then proceeded to present her lesson.

"Dear Princess Celestia. Friendship is a wondrous and powerful thing. Even the worst of enemies can become friends. You need understanding and compromise. You've got to share; you've got to care."

At the conclusion of this, Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of them. "Hey! That's what I said!" Pinkie said angrily. "Yes, you did." Thunder said in a gentle voice. "Only difference is, you said it through a horrible performance that caused a war that could have destroyed both sides." Pinkie didn't respond, unsure of what to say.

Meanwhile, Applejack, Rainbow, and Lightning stood beholding Bloomburg, who had been returned and planted in the orchard. "Well, this is your big moment Bloomburg." Applejack said with happiness radiating off her. "Ma and Pa are so proud of you." At this, tears suddenly started to stream down Lightning's face as he looked upon the tree he had help grow. Rainbow looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you crying?" She asked, a bit of laughter in her voice. "No," Lightning responded, "I just ate a bunch of onions earlier." Lightning continued to cry, Applejack putting her leg around his shoulders in support.

Later, Thunder and Lightning where heading towards the end of the orchard, a place where they planned to meet Braeburn and Strongheart. Their intention, at the behest of Rainbow and Applejack, was to apologize to them for trying to hook them up to ensure peace.

"You think that they'll accept our apology after what we did?" Lightning asked as they rounded a bend to reach their chosen destination. "Don't worry I,m sure-" Whatever he was about to say was lost as he looked forward, his eyes wide, his mouth agape in shock. Lightning looked at him with a raised eyebrow, then adopted the same look when he followed his brother's gaze.

There, right where they agreed to meet, were Braeburn and Strongheart. Only, they were embraced in a passionate kiss. They broke off when they noticed the pegasi gawking at them. They then smiled at each other and walked up to the brothers. "Apology accepted." The pair said to the stunned pegasi. Then, sharing a wink, Braeburn and Strongheart walked away together, leaving Thunder and Lightning gawking at them the whole while.

**So, there you have it. I told you that this would have eventual BraeburnxStrongheart, though probably not the way you wanted it. Just a little announcement, I'll no longer accept requests for season one episode story ideas as I have two more already thought of. They will be "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" and "The best night ever." I will also be attempting my first crossover. All these stories will all feature Thunder and Lightning, as you already know. So, stay tuned for more stories later on. R&R please!**


End file.
